Subject that you think should be removed from school

Describe a subject that you think should be removed from school education programmes.

You should say:

what the subject is

which grade it is taught in

why you think it is unnecessary for children to study it

and explain what you would replace it with.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Model Answer 1:

Presently the education system is experiencing some unusual changes and most of the times the students of different levels are to be the sufferers. Research methodology is one of the subjects that should be taught at college level and thus it should be discarded from the school education programmes.

The education system in the Philippines has changed comparing the past days. Currently, the students are to carry heavier books than their own weight and sometimes they turn sick for the academic studies and pressures. It happens as the school authorities want to make them smarter and faster to keep pace with the advancing world. Of course, the aims of the school administrations are noble but at the same time, they forget that the kids not should be treated in this way. Adding more subjects and texts on their syllabus will not make them wise enough in this premature age to deal with the world. Attachment of critical subjects and courses often make the life of the students unbearable. Thus they turn reluctant to their studies and consequently their academic results are not up to the mark. In many schools in the Philippines, the authorities have included research on their academic syllabus and this is done with the students of secondary level. But I think this should not be on the list.

Usually, the students of seventh to tenth grade are to undergo different sorts of research works in their academic studies and often the research comes with the scores of a full course. Moreover, the school authorities design the syllabus in such a way that there are no chances to skip the research. The school authority wants to make the students familiar with the contemporary trends of research as if they are the potential scientists. But they do not think how the research works have detrimental impacts on the student. Since research is a vast issue, it should be taught and practised at the university level. But the school authorities are a bit unwise as they do not have the complete idea about the research activities. Conducting a research is highly troublesome for a student of the seventh or eighth grade.

Research methodologies are a set of complex rules and regulations to be followed during a research work. The students of the lower level, like who are in their tenth grade, are unable to comprehend the entire facts. I have seen that majority of the students are unable to keep pace with their academic studies when they are assigned the research activities. They are to do a large number of preparatory works for their research. They are to select their topic, make necessary arrangements, prepare questionnaires, sort out the gathered data, analyse the data, prepare lengthy reports and submit them for getting the marks or passing course. But the tasks are heavily time-consuming and the students are unable to perform all the tasks smoothly. As a result, they cannot concentrate on their regular studies. At the end of the year, their overall academic activities are not up to the mark and the grades fall to the largest extent. If they did not have to concern over the research, they would have done far better than the expected results.

Secondary level for the students is the time for to know about everything but in a limited manner. They are not supposed to be specialists in this age. Rather there are scopes to be an expert in any specific subjects when they are at the university level or having their post graduations. So, the academic studies in school should be made student friendly. The research methodologies should be replaced with something interesting. The school administrations may replace the subject with some extracurricular activities like watching movies and appearing on quick tests over the movie. Besides, they also could participate in some indoor or outdoor sports competitions. In fact, research works are not something that will attract the students. They perform the tasks as they need to pass the exam and often they adopt unfair means to cross the barriers of school boundaries. When they follow the unfair ways, they actually do not learn anything and this is merely a wastage of time and labour. If they are engaged in the activities they like most, then they would participate in the activities happily and the scores will be of expected level.

Sample Answer 2:
Many of the schools teach Foreign Language in their elementary level and the majority of the students cannot cope up with the subject. So, I think Foreign Language should be removed from school education programmes. Thank you for this cue card topic. I will explain the matter here.

Often the little children are forced to learn a new language. It is a kind of challenge to them. But in most of the cases, they are not mentally ready to accept the challenge. So, they become a failure in learning a new language. The time they need spend on the playground, they are spending those moments in learning a new and foreign language which really damages their mental faculty.

Basically, the Foreign Language is taught in several grades. But it begins at the elementary level. When a child is admitted to the elementary level, it is really difficult for the baby to cope up with many subjects. They need to learn a lot of subjects like Maths, Physics, Literature, General Knowledge, Geography, History, English, Chemistry, Social Science, Science, and many more. Additional another complicated subject like – Foreign Language is a burden to them. I think it is not suitable for the children of elementary level. Rather it should be prescribed in higher secondary level or during the graduation.

At present, the children are admitted to a school at a very early age. They are admitted when they are hardly four. So, they cannot bear the load of their books. Moreover, the education system in the present day is formulated in such a way that it wants to teach all the things in a single year. The educational institutions are in a competition to make good results and create renowned persons from their respective institutions. And the children become the victims of such ill competitions. The educational institutions prescribe syllabus in a way that it becomes hard for the little kids to adjust to the curriculum and make a desired academic result. So, I think this is unnecessary to keep in school

I want to replace Foreign Language with Drawing or any other extracurricular activity that the children will prefer to participate. They have lots of time to learn a foreign language. And learning a language by knowing its grammar and other inner rules is really tough in this premature age. So, they should be engaged in activities that will help them to grow mentally. Sometimes, the kids should be allowed to play in playgrounds or might be taken on an excursion where they will come to know about nature and real-life. Moreover, they should be engaged with the subjects that they will happily participate and do their best to bring a good result. In brief, the subject should make them glad.

If you can talk about the cue card topic "Describe a subject that you think should be removed from school education programmes." you should be able to talk about the following IELTS cue cards topics as well: